"Modernising" away gender pay inequality? Some evidence from the local government sector on using job evaluation

Purpose - This paper aims to focus on the use of job evaluation used as a mechanism to increase gender pay equality, drawing on data from the UK local government sector. Design/methodology/approach - Several research methods are used to collect data, including requesting information from local councils using the Freedom of Information Act, 2000, together with document analyses and interview data. Findings - While the paper questions the effectiveness of job evaluation in achieving pay equality objectives, within a pay and labour market that tends to favour male-dominated jobs, it nevertheless finds some pay improvements for women resulting from job-evaluated pay system changes and suggests the use of pay progression systems could lead to further pay advancements for women. Research limitations/implications - This research has a number of limitations and further inquiries are needed to assess the impact of the slow progress of pay and grading reviews within local government. Methodologically isolating the effect of job evaluation from that of the other pay determination factors presents a significant challenge. Originality/value - Focuses on the implementation in the local government sector of the 1997 single status agreement (SSA), which has been very slow. While overall funding and resources to implement the agreement have been low, there are, it is argued in this paper, other issues, centering on assumptions about job evaluation and its use to reduce gender pay inequality, which contribute to implementation difficulties.